The present applicant has already provided a clasping device which is compact, tough, reliable in function and easy to handle (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-52175). This clasping device is such that its main member is constituted by a lever so pivotally connected between a body and said main member that, when said lever is pivoted from the release position in a fastening direction, a belt turning shaft and a belt pressing shaft disposed between the walls of the lever move around said pivot shaft to fasten the belt.
The clasping device described above is intended mainly to fix an automobile on a deck aboard a ship when a relatively light-weight passenger car is to be transported aboard the ship, and accordingly, the clasping device itself is relatively compact in size.
In practice, however, it often occurs that a large vehicle of 10 tons or more is transported aboard a ship and, in such a case, the clasping device described above is not suitable. This is because, while the clasping device must be constructed tough enough to withstand the load of a vehicle of 10 tons or more, the clasping main would become very bulky if the structure of the clasping device described above were copied, and would be inconvenient to handle. That is, when the lever is pivoted to a fastening position relative to the body, the belt turning shaft and the belt pressing shaft will be positioned above the pivot shaft and, for this reason, that portion of the lever where these shafts are located project considerably upwardly from the body and, therefore, the height of the clasping main member itself in a fastening condition becomes very high, requiring the main to be constructed long in the lengthwise direction.
The present invention has been developed in the light of the above described conventional situation and has for its object to provide a novel clasping device suited for use with a large load, wherein the lever, when the clasping main is in a fastening condition, can be relatively favorably accommodated within the body and, therefore, the clasping device itself can be constructed relatively compactly.